Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Tavern Tables: Rooms for Rent

Sensing that tonight’s activities will leave you looking for nearby quarters to rest your head, you inquire as to the availability of the rooms on the second floor. After several attempts to make yourself heard over the noise of the crowd, you’re finally directed to a matronly, grey-haired woman who mans the counter of a small alcove. She says that there are several vacancies available and, depending on your purse, she’d be glad to give you the key to one.

Twenty Rooms to Choose From1) "Oasis" (8 cp/night) – This room should really be called “Desert,” as it is bare of any furnishings whatsoever. Other than a coat of white paint, the room in empty, but for the frugal adventurer with a bedroll and no desire to share the common room, it’s a good deal. The room’s narrow window overlooks the courtyard outside and the lock on the door is new and of good construction.2) "The Shambles" (8 cp/night) – The mattress is lumpy, the bed squeaks, the chamber pot has a crack in it, and a mouse lives in the wall. Still, it beats sleeping in the rain.3) "Sweet Slumber" (8 cp/night) – The inn’s staff has been scrubbing this room for a week and something continues to stink. The innkeep believes something crawled into the wall and died. Rather than tear up the wall and floor in search of a carcass, he’s had the staff double their cleaning efforts and hang sachets of pleasant-smelling herbs in the room. The stink will eventually clear – once someone finds the murdered halfling that’s been dismembered and sewn into the tick of the bed. Will the PC be the lucky one to discover this?4) "Evening Grove" (2 sp/night) – This room is located off of the main hallway of the inn at the end of a secondary corridor. While the room itself is nondescript in appearance (simple furnishings, small hearth, single window, and a good lock), both the room and the corridor outside always remain clean. While this phenomenon has been noticed by the staff, the innkeeper’s wife forbids anyone to investigate the matter for fear of ruining a good thing. She suspects that the Wee Folk have something to do with it and she’s correct. A booka has taken up residence in the attic just over this room. He regularly passes through this room by way of the hearth and likes to keep the place tidy. The booka respects the privacy of both the innkeeper’s family and guests; he expects the same in return.5) "Starlight Dreams" (2 sp/night) – All the furniture in this room was made by the innkeeper’s eldest son and he’s not a very good carpenter. Each piece of furniture is slightly off-plumb, creating minor nuisances for the guest who stays here (things roll off tables; shins are banged on oddly-angled corners, and the chair just feels wrong). On the plus side, the innkeeper’s son works cheap. If the party needs something crafted and isn’t concerned about quality, they can get it half-price through him.6) "Labor’s Rest" (2 sp/night) – The furnishings in this room are old and worn. The bed creaks, the chair is rickety, and a sliver of wood propped under the night table keeps it from rocking. Despite this, anyone sleeping in the room gains a +1 bonus to their natural healing roll. This is due to the enchanted straw mattress that lies atop the bed. The innkeep bought the bed second-hand from a dead mage’s estate sale and it bears a slight aura of magic – a fact that the innkeep is unaware of. If he was to learn this, the cost of this room would certainly rise.7) "Oak & Ivy" (2 sp/night) – The décor of this room bears a forest motif. Intertwined vines are carved into the exposed wood, the walls are daubed with green and brown paint in a leaf-like pattern, and large carved acorns adorn the bedposts. A wicker basket containing a pillow lies in the corner, left as a bed for familiars, pets, and animal companions.8) "Monk’s Cell" (2 sp/night) – As the name implies, this simple room contains a bed, a small table, a pitcher, washbasin, and chamber pot. A smoky candle provides the only illumination, as there is no window.9) "Beggar’s Banquet" (2 sp/night) – This room is a closely-guarded secret and, unless you’re friendly with the innkeep or really down on your luck, it’s likely to remain that way. The room is extremely comfortable. A feather mattress and soft linens grace the bed; a plush, padded chair and ottoman sit in the corner, and a collapsible bathtub waits inside the room’s wardrobe. A fine dinner is also included with an evening’s stay. The price for such opulence: 2 silver. Despite his gruff exterior, the innkeeper is a softy when it comes to folks truly down on their luck. Itinerant adventurers who lost everything in their last delve or a humble tradesman who fell afoul of robbers might be rewarded with a night of luxury for a very low cost. The innkeep believes he’ll gather his reward for such kindnesses in the next life. Loutish or lazy folks never benefit from his charity, however. He has no tolerance for such behavior.10) "Nook Bed" (2 sp/night) – This tiny room was intended to be a storage closet until greed trumped practicality. These small quarters are cramped and oddly-shaped, as the room lies under a conflux of the inn’s eaves and gables. The small bed is comfortable at least. The solitary window in these quarters looks directly out over the inn’s roof and is shielded from view by the building’s gable and a chimney, making it a superb place from which to launch unseen forays onto the city’s rooftops.11) "Solitude" (2 sp/night) – This room occupies the inn’s garret and is accessed by a narrow staircase. Cheap wall-hangings and a thick rug cover the walls and floor, providing sound-proofing from the rowdy common room far below. The furnishings (bed, armoire, desk & chair, and cloak stand) are worn and need to be replaced, but the quiet is well-worth the rustic conditions for a travelling magic-user, sage, or other private individual. Due to this room’s elevation, it is the only quarters in the inn that can see the window to Nook Bed – a fact that could become important depending on the resident of that room’s nocturnal activities.12) "The Chapel" (4 sp/night) – These quarters are named for its two stained glass windows. A third, more functional, window is also present. One window depicts a man in red cowl and robes bearing a knobby-headed staff; the other shows an elven maiden surrounded by animal life. The windows were purchased second-hand and the innkeep doesn’t know where they originally came from.13) "Feathered Nest" (4 sp/night) – This room was once filled with plush finery but time has taken its toll. The down mattress and pillows are stained and worn, the rug is growing threadbare, and the padded headboard of the bed bears stitches. For those all-too accustomed to sleeping in the raw or not too picky, however, these quarters are well-worth the cost.14) "Battened Down" (4 sp/night) – This rooms is done in a nautical motif. The bed is of driftwood, the chairs are captain’s chairs, and old rope and ship paintings hang from the walls. The windows are even porthole-shaped. A battered, bent, verdigris-covered telescope is mounted on a plaque above the bed. The top section of this telescope can be pulled off to reveal a small compartment within. A certain clandestine organization uses the telescope as a drop point for coded messages. There is a 5% chance that one such missive is inside at any given time.15) "Warm Comfort" (1 gp/night) – These quarters and the three that follow are located around the tavern’s main chimney. The ambient heat from that smokestack warms the chambers quite well when in use, making these rooms comfortable lodgings during the height of winter. This room sports a comfortable bed dressed with thick quilts sewn by the innkeeper’s wife. She has two more available for sale if guests find them to their liking.16) "Frost Foe" (1 gp/night) – These cozy quarters are perhaps the best of the four “hot rooms.” The furnishings are clean, comfortable, and well-cared for. The temperature in the room is never stifling and, as an added feature, the innkeeper’s daughter rooms just below this one. She’s in the habit of singing in her room at the end of her workday and she has a pleasant contralto voice.17) "Hearth Home" (1 gp/night) – There are two sets of furnishings in this room: one human-sized and one halfling-sized. Each set includes a bed with wool-filled mattress, a night table with ewer and basin, a padded chair, and a chest of drawers. A worn, blue rug covers the floor and a small tin tray, suitable for tapping out the pipe ash, sits on the halfling-sized night table.18) "Fire Rest" (1 gp/night) – This room is warm, uncomfortably so except for on the coldest of nights. Characters bedding down here will find themselves sweating despite opening the window, shedding the covers from the bed, or sleeping au naturel. The PC must make a CON check to get any sleep at all. A failed check results in no natural healing and the inability to memorize spells the following day.19) "Sage’s Sleep" (3 gp/night) – Perfect for the travelling scholar, this room contains a massive desk and comfortable padded chair in addition to its other opulent furnishings. An array of inks, quills, and scribing tools rest in a caddy atop the desk and parchment is available for the asking. The rug in this room roughly resembles a written letter.20) "The Dragon’s Den" (5 gp/night) – The apex of housing in the inn. No expense has been spared to furnish these quarters and all the room’s accouterments are of the finest quality and materials. A gilded bathtub stands on a platform of marble, privacy granted by a painted silk screen. A separate room is provided for entertaining guests and a bell rope hangs in both rooms to summon immediate attention from the staff. If you award experience for gold spent, booking the Dragon’s Den for a week or more gives a +10% experience bonus but only to one character. The PCs may find themselves contending against one another to get the room first.

Who's to Blame

Despite having never been a professional adventurer, Michael Curtis has nonetheless deciphered cryptic writings, handled ancient maps and texts, ridden both a camel and an elephant, fallen off a mountain, participated in a mystical rite, and discovered the resting places of lost treasures. He can be contacted at poleandrope @ gmaildotcom